A blog about people, HR, business and things that interest me.
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Thursday, 31 October 2013

Be Fruitful

Last week I found myself as Key Note
speaker at the Financial Services HR Leaders’ Strategy Meeting 2013 in
London - a first for me, as having damaged my hip, I had to speak to whilst sitting down. I hope people didn't think I was being rude. I am indebted to a fellow Human
Resources Director, who unexpectedly had to pull out of the conference, not
only for the opportunity but also for his title: What does “strengthen your
core, innovate your business” mean for HR in Financial Services? Given that today is Halloween, a day on which
apple bobbing is a traditional pastime, I thought I’d swiftly share with you
the points I covered in my talk, many of which centred on fruit and fruitful
approaches.

As you know, I firmly believe that you reap
what you sow. When I was at school,
there was a girl in my class called Sarah.
For some reason, Sarah really irritated one member of staff and I
remember this teacher yelling at Sarah

“You are rotten, rotten to the core.”

This is a shocking thing to shout at
anyone, but potentially a devastating statement for a young girl hitting
puberty. Sarah was shocked and hurt and
spent much time mulling the phrase over.
Eventually she decided that, if she was already a lost cause there was
little point in trying to be an obedient and studious pupil. Sarah became a rebel and, to my mind, her
decision can be traced back to the expectations expressed of her and they way
that she was spoken to. Admittedly, there
are occasions when telling an individual that they are potentially doomed to be
a failure can drive their behaviour the other way. My father’s office was next that of the father
of a boy who was seen as different, a troublesome handful at school. His headmaster told him that

“You will either go to prison or become a
millionaire”

The father was so exasperated by his son’s
conduct that it fell to family friends, such as my father, to give the lad
funds to establish a small magazine (initially a school publication) that grew
into a national student magazine with interviews with Mick Jagger and John
Lennon, and which was the first entrepreneurial success for young Richard Branson. Some people need a challenge to spur them
on. Much depends on how you react to the way you are
perceived by others.

As Marcellus famously says to Horatio in Hamlet, there is

“Something rotten in the state of Denmark”

And one could claim a similar opinion
towards the state of Banking. Certainly,
Financial Services as a whole have not been well perceived since the Financial Markets crisis of 2007-2009 and it is not hard to see why.
The wasp-like Media has feasted on a glut of issues, including:

80% of the world’s 26 banking and finance unions have cited
stress as a major problem for their members – UNI survey 16 Oct 2013

Huge pressure on staff - since 2008 the big 4 banks have cut
around 180,000 jobs

Financial Services’ reputation has been badly
damaged, as Casio says to Iago in Othello:

“Oh I have lost my reputation I have lost
the immortal part of myself and what remains is bestial.”

The only thing that can restore the
institutions’ reputations and the trust of their customers and clients is the conduct
of the people who work within them.
People working in Financial Services must do what is right. As Douglas Adams once said:

“To give real service you must add
something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity
and integrity.”

HR’s area of expertise is people and hence
now is the time when HR should shine.

To be taken seriously, HR needs to prove
itself to be commercially astute and have the strength to stand up for what is
right and in the long-term, sustainable interests of the industry, as opposed
to caving in to short-term greed and personal gain. I have mentioned before the situation with
the pear orchards in Sichuan where it was believed that a greater commercial
harvest could be reaped by eliminating insects that damaged the fruit. Powerful insecticides were utilised that
destroyed all insects – now, due to the lack of pollinators, men have to climb
the trees and pollinate the blossom by hand.
HR needs to speak out and address the shortcomings in strategic plans and
proposed behaviours.

HR needs to be brave and when necessary make
the hard decisions – all orchards are enhanced by judicious pruning.

There is much to be said for focusing on
core business activities when times are tough.
Some topical examples include:

Twitter, which is concentrating on its
mobile offering going forward as that is where it anticipates most customer
usage in the years ahead

Burberry which has turned itself around by strengthening
its core retail offering thereby producing 17% growth – it as also interesting
to note that Apple launched its latest handset on the Burberry catwalk – an indication
perhaps of closer connections to come.

Apple, of course, has traditionally been
hailed for its focus on innovation. Collaboration and Innovation are two key
buzzwords being used to explain the anticipated success of leading businesses
going forwards. When done well, innovation
can be the key to success much like the appeal of the unusual citrus tree below
(clever grafting has enabled grapefruit, oranges, limes, lemons and clementines
to be harvested simultaneously).

But you need to take care not to overdo
it. This apple tree has 250 varieties of
apple but the man who created it can no longer name or remember each type
without assistance.

Over the past year I have worked hard with fellow
executives to introduce some innovative approaches and roles within my own
employer. We know and are proud of the
fact that we provide a unique offering for our clients based on understanding
and trust. HR has earned its place and
has a voice that is listened to when considering our strategic direction and
drivers for success. I urge you to look
at your offering and business model, truly understand what your clients value
and work to ensure, through relationships based on integrity, that both you and
they can thrive. It is HR’s role to
ensure that the businesses we work for and the employees within them are well
organised, flourishing and fruitful. Like the honeybee, HR can bring a little sweetness to the world.

3 comments:

Well said Kate. And it's not just the financial industry, the energy sector, including the oil giants are also rotten to their core and just now I hear the 5 trillion forex industry with 40% of it in London is under investigation for suspicious trading during 60 seconds at the end of the trading day. HR has a major role in helping the misguided and the greedy to get their priorities back in line. It will take many years for them to see the errors of their ways. Success!

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Creative Connector, Advisor, Mother/Wife/Friend, Leader, Urban Naturalist, International HR Professional and Company Director. Passionate about enabling people & organisations to exceed their own expectations